Risk... many participants are not doing yoga correctly. Yoga exponents are being caught out by the activity's relaxing and low impact image with more than one in four injured during sessions.

A failure to warm up and prepare adequately for the exercise has been identified as causing the surprising injury rate.

The risks of yoga are contained in a sports injuries report to be released today.

The research, commissioned by Medibank Private, found sports injuries cost the Australian community more than $1.8 billion in the past year. The medical bill was $300 million more than the previous year.

Footballers were the most likely to be hurt and those aged between 18 and 24 were at greatest risk of breaking down.

Sports physician Dr Peter Larkins said yoga was not inherently dangerous but the injury rate showed many participants were not doing it correctly.

"You have to get the correct program and advice. There are a lot of stretching manoeuvres and maybe some are trying it at 38 thinking there are 18," he said.

"Yoga has become the new aerobics and some people are getting it out of a book or video. Participants need to ensure that they don't overdo it, particularly when starting a new health and fitness regime."

Yesterday at Body Mind Life yoga studio in Surry Hills owner Nicole Walsh said she had not experienced the injury rate found in the survey.

She said students of Bikram yoga complete warm up breathing and stretching exercises before progressing. The increased room temperature also made injuries less frequent.

"I would have thought one in 10 [injured]," she said.

"It depends on the kind of injuries. Some people have old injuries and do yoga and the old injuries flare up."

The report found 5.2 million injuries were incurred on Australian sporting fields and courts in the past 12 months requiring almost 25,000 hospital admissions and 250,000 emergency department presentations.

An alarming 3.6m injuries were untreated.

Ankle, foot and achilles injuries are the most common accounting for 20 per cent of all sporting injuries.

Knee (13 per cent), back and spine (9 per cent), shoulder (8 per cent) and wrist or forearm (5 per cent) followed.

The warning from fitness experts to warm up and cool down had failed to reach the masses with only 38 per cent of survey respondents saying they regularly completed pre and post sport regimes.

(CRI online September 20, 2004)